Restoration
by Allicat9
Summary: Love is divine only and difficult always. They came together after the Battle to piece together what was left of their lives. The couples of Harry Potter deal with the aftermath of war. One shots in no particular order/various pairings. Companion to Aftermath and The Fallen. PLEASE REVIEW!
1. Lee and Demelza

They run away together three weeks after the last funeral.

Lee brushes her dark hair from her eyes and smiles, because really, he has nothing left. He has to fill the void inside him, and the pretty Quidditch player standing beside him will do just fine. He knows it's not fair, what he's doing. She still has people, somewhere, who need her. But Lee is selfish and today, he needs her more.

Demelza smiles back and grabs his hand. She knows what he's doing. She knows he carries emptiness that he is trying to fit her into. She even knows that it won't work. Not really. Not for long. But she thinks she's better than booze at least and she loves him and he needs her. Today, Demelza is unselfish and when the vicar asks, she says;

"I do."


	2. Henry and Yarnan

She cuts him off, after. She falls asleep on his chest in the Ravenclaw dorm rooms and when he awakens, she's gone.

He tries to go to her brother's house, hers now, and talk to her. He sends her flowers, letters, pleas. All go unanswered. She won't let him inside. She won't speak to him. She won't even look at him.

He cannot understand her pain. He knows that. She lost her entire family to the war. Her parents, her siblings, her sister in law, her niece and nephew. And she lost them in the most horrific of ways. He cannot imagine her suffering. But she won't let him try. She won't allow him to be her shoulder to cry on. She doesn't cry.

It's not just him; she doesn't speak to anyone anymore. No one from the D.A can reach her. When one of her girlfriends does manage to get in the house, she reports that Yarnan hexed her.

"She's going to drink herself to death in that house." The girl says, with the tone of one unused to being helpless.

Henry refuses to accept that its over at first. Months go by. May fades to June fades to July. And still, nothing from the girl that he has devoted the last four years of his life to.

He waits outside the old house on Diagon Ally. He's there three days before she comes out.

"Go away Henry." She slurs, her blue eyes blank, her hair dirty, "I don't love you anymore."

He leaves.

August fades to September fades to October, and Henry tries to get used to his life without her. Being an auror suits him, and he can now afford his own apartment. He tries not to think of her, but when he falls asleep alone at night, it's hard not to.

When he sees her again, it's an accident.

She sits in a café, pouring over a stack of papers, her brow creasing in the way it did when she was puzzled. She is still too thin, her hair closer to white then blonde, her left hand still mangled and crossed with scars. But she is still the most beautiful woman he's ever seen.

She looks up, as if sensing his eyes on her. She doesn't smile, but she doesn't turn away either. He goes to her table.

"Henry." She says, and it's like they've never parted.

He reached down and gathers her up into his arms. She lets him. Her clothing is different now. None of the flashy blouses and sky high heels. Now she is makeup free and dressed in a clean, brown skit suit, nothing like she used to wear.

"I'm not the same as I was, Henry." She whispers in his ear.

"That's ok." He whispers back, "I want to discover you all over again."

He does.


	3. Ron and Hermione

They don't speak about it for a few days.

Their hurried kiss in the Room of Requirement seems like centuries ago, another lifetime. One where Voldemort was alive and Fred wasn't dead and they had a _mission._

Now the mission is finished, the quest has ended. But instead of the neat happily ever after they envisioned they are left with bodies to bury and wounds that can't heal and broken castles.

For the first few days, Hermione is a shadow behind Mrs. Weasely. Always helping. Always there to make tea or talk or be a shoulder to cry on.

For the first few days, Ron is a rock in the center of his family. Always steady. Always there to plan funerals or talk or watch George.

They are always near one another, but they are hardly ever _with _one another. It drives them both mad, but neither is willing to deal with their situation when it seems trivial in the light of everything else that has happened.

As usual, they have to fight to even start communicating. Hermione starts it, or maybe Ron does, over something stupid and trivial. They both fly into rages (because no one can fight like they can) and say terrible, horrible things to one another (because they each want the other to be hurt as badly as they are). In the end it doesn't matter because they are both crying and kissing and yelling and kissing some more. And maybe, just maybe their happily ever after isn't so impossible after all.


	4. Harry and Ginny

It doesn't affect them like the others. When the dust settles and the funerals finished, Harry and Ginny fall back into their routine like they were never apart. Like nothing ever happened.

They were always easy together, they always fit. Ginny was the one aspect of Harry's life that wasn't complicated and Harry was Ginny's adventure.

Together, uncomplicated and comfortable, balanced by each other once more.

The first thing Harry smells now when he wakes is the flowery scent of Ginny's shampoo. The first thing he sees is the warm red of her hair, encompassing them both. As he snuggles against her in the wee morning hours, trying to get comfortable once more, he thinks he might like uncomplicated and comfortable more than anything in the world.


	5. George and Angelina

There are some holes that can't be filled.

George's ear is one example. Fred's place is another.

They discover this after a few months of wild, desperate sex that ends in tears more often than not.

They fight more than they thought they would, they feel more alone then they thought they would.

It was never like this when Fred was around, and both can't help but fear that Fred was the one holding their relationship together.

They love each other, they always have, but relationships can't always survive trauma, and they both have experienced plenty of that.

They try for years, on and off, back and forth, till they are both sure they will go mad with love and fear.

They decide to make a real go of it when Angelina finds out she's pregnant. They decide to stop trying to be something they're not and just be.

And when little Fred arrives just a few months later, George and Angelina both finally feel, as they stare at their son, that they might be good together after all.


	6. Charlie and Lavender

"We all have scars."

That's what he says when he catches her looking in the mirror for too long.

And it's true. Most people have scars. One or two.

Most people don't have scars that spread across their back and neck and face like a perverted spider web. Most people, she tells him as she watches herself in the mirror, don't have scars like her.

"That's what makes you beautiful. More beautiful. "

That's what he tells he when she cries and he kisses her neck, kisses her scars.

She couldn't understand why he found her attractive. He couldn't understand why she thought she was ugly. All she saw when she looked at herself was a half formed monster. All he could see was a warrior with flaming golden hair and the air of a queen.

She was wild. He liked wild. He was strong. She needed strong. He was passionate. She liked passionate. She was resilient. He needed resilient.

They go to Romania together. She leaves everything behind.

"I don't miss it."

That's what she says when she catches him looking at her for too long. Waiting for her to break she thinks.

"I know."

That's what he says when he knows she's thinking of her old life and needs him to lie to her. Because one day she will break.

Then Charlie takes Lavender in his arms like he always will and they fall into each other under the Romanian night sky.


	7. Molly and Arthur

In the end, after everything, they have each other.

Molly and Arthur are hardly apart the days leading up to the funeral. They cling to one another, silent except for Molly's sobs, watching as their children pick up the pieces of the shattered world around them.

They watch as Bill tries to take the lead, to make the decisions that need to be made. They watch Fleur fuss and clean and bake. They almost feel bad that their duties have been passed on to others. They would if they could feel anything but grief.

They watch Charlie rage seethe at the unfairness of it all. They watch Percy as he is swallowed by grief and guilt. Molly and Arthur try to ease their son's pain. But they fail and in the end, cede their duties to others who can help more than they can.

They watch Ron become the man they always knew he was. They watch as he becomes the emotional center of the family, stable when no one else can be. They watch their baby girl disappear, a woman appearing in her place. Suddenly, overnight, Ginny becomes hard lines and womanly curves and brown eyes that look a decade older than they are.

They watch George fade. They can do nothing.

They watch Fred being lowered into the ground. They can do nothing.

A month after the funeral, Molly and Arthur Weasely sit in their living room, holding hands.

In the end, after everything, they have each other. They remain unbroken.


End file.
